LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



©|a|t.-hrl::i ©Ijjt5ttg!|t !f U.- 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



TEWKSBURY 



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A SHORT HISTORY 



BY 



EDWARD W. PRIDE 



ISSUED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE TEWKSBURY 
VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION 




CAMBRIDGE 

T^xinWn at tl)e Kitjerfiitie Pregs 
1888 



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rsT^ 



Copyright, 1888, 
Bt EDWARD W. PRIDE. 



PREFACE. 



This sketch was delivered last winter 
as a lecture under the title " Our Town," 
in the course of the Village Improvement 
Association of Tewksbury. It was written 
with no thought of publication. The re- 
quest for it for that purpose brought home 
to the writer its incompleteness. He has 
consented to its appearance to gratify many 
who were unable to hear it ; in hope, also, 
that it may incite some one to give Tewks- 
bury a more perfect history. 

In the study of history to-day, no feature 
is more marked than the attention paid 
to the process of the making of England 
and the United States as revealed in the 
early life of the towns. Those of New Eng- 
land have an origin and life peculiarly their 
own. The smallest of them is a true repre- 
sentative of the class. 

E. W. P. 

North Tewksbury, 

August 31, 1888. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. In Billerica 1 

II, The Beginning 12 

III. The Church 19 

IV. In the Revolution 32 

V. In the Civil War 41 

VI. The Schools 46 

Vll. The Poor 53 

VIII. Natural History -7 

IX. Slavery 61 

X. Miscellaneous 64 

XL Conclusion 72 



OUR TOWN. 

CHAPTER I. 
IN BILLERICA. 

Peevious to incorporation, Tewksbury 
belonged to what was once the vast town 
of Billerica. From that town, founded in 
1654, were taken the largest part of Bed- 
ford in 1729, the whole of Wilmington in 
1730, of Tewksbury in 1734, and of Car- 
lisle in 1780. Billerica received its grant 
from the town of Cambridge, and was at 
first some thirty-five miles in circuit, requir- 
ing a day's journey to compass it. 

As early as 1725 a movement was made, 
by Jonathan Bowers, Samuel Hunt, and 
others, to establish the town of Wamesit, 
which should include the whole Wamesit 
Purchase of 2,500 acres, some 2,000 of which 



2 OUR TOWN. 

lay on the other side of the Concord River ; 
but this effort, which would have retained 
the name of Wamesit among the towns of 
the State, was unsuccessfial. 

Billerica at first included all the land east 
of the Concord River in this region, and 
south of the Merrimack River to the 
Andover line, except 500 acres. These 
formed the part of the 2,500 acres belong- 
ing to the reservation of the Wamesit In- 
dians, which lay between the two rivers. 
Thus what is now Tewksbury shared the 
history of Billerica. The most interesting 
portion of that history is the early experi- 
ence of Billerica with the Indians. Their 
chief seat in this region was at the junction 
of the Concord and Merrimack rivers. It 
was known as Wamesit, from the name of 
the tribe. Of the five great nations which 
at the settlement of this continent dwelt 
between the Penobscot and Hudson rivers, 
one was the Pawtucket, seated on the Mer- 
rimack and Piscataqua rivers. They were 
known by numerous names, as Pennacooks, 



THE INDIANS. 3 

Agawams, Naamkeeks, Piscataquas, and 
Wamesits. Their name Pawtucket survives 
at the falls above Lowell. Wamesit retains 
its hold in Lowell and at Mace's Crossing. 
It ought to have been given to this town in- 
stead of Tewksbury. The first sagamores 
of the Wamesits known to history are Run- 
nawit, then Passaconaway, then Wanna- 
lancet. 

Fortunately we have a description from 
an eye-witness of what Wamesit was in 
1674, two hundred and fourteen years ago. 
It is written by Daniel Gookin, who came 
from Virginia in 1644 and was appointed by 
the General Court superintendent of all the 
Indians who had submitted to the govern- 
ment of Massachusetts, — an office he re- 
tained till his death in 1687, — a man 
judicious, honest, godly, respected and 
trusted by all. His " Historical Collections 
of the Indians in New England " is very 
interesting reading. It was published in 
1792, and republished in 1806 by the Mas- 
sachusetts Historical Society. His descrip- 
tion of Wamesit follows : — 



4 OUR TOWN, 

" Wamesit is the fifth praying town ; and this 
place is situate upon the Merrimack river, being 
a neck of land, where Concord river falleth into 
Merrimack river. It is about twenty miles from 
Boston, north northwest, and within five miles of 
Billerica and as much from Chelmsford ; so that 
it hath Concord river upon the west northwest, 
and Merrimack river upon the north northeast 
It hath about fifteen families ; and consequently, 
as we compute, about seventy-five souls. The 
quantity of land belonging to it is about twenty- 
five hundred acres. The land is fertile, and 
yieldeth plenty of corn. It is excellently accom- 
modated with a fishing place, and there is taken 
variety of fish in their seasons, as salmon, shads, 
lamprey eels, sturgeon, bass, and divers others. 
There is a great confluence of Indians, that usu- 
ally resort to this place in the fishing seasons. 
Of these strange Indians, divers are vitious and 
wicked men and women ; which Satan makes use 
of to obstruct the prosperity of religion here. 
The ruler of this people is called Numphow. He 
is one of the blood of their chief sachems. Their 
teacher is called Samuel, son to the ruler, a young 
man of good parts, and can speak, read, and write 



GOOKIN'S NARRATIVE. 5 

English and Indian competently. He is one of 
those that was bred up at school, at the charge 
of the Corporation for the Indians. These In- 
dians, if they were diligent and industrious, — 
to which they have been frequently excited, — 
might get much by their fish, especially fresh 
salmon, which are of esteem and good price at 
Boston in the season ; and the Indians being 
stored with horses of a low price, might furnish 
the market fully, being at so small a distance. 
And divers other sorts of fish they might salt or 
pickle, as sturgeon and bass; which would be 
much to their profit. But notwithstanding divers 
arguments used to persuade them, and some or- 
ders made to encourage them ; yet their idleness 
and improvidence doth hitherto prevail. 

" At this place, once a year, at the beginning 
of May, the English magistrate keeps his court, 
accompanied with Mr. Eliot, the minister, who at 
this time takes his opportunity to preach not 
only to the inhabitants, but to as many of the 
strange Indians that can be persuaded to hear 
him ; of which sort, ueually in times of peace, 
there are considerable numbers at that season. 
And this place being an ancient and capital seat 



6 OOR TOWN. 

of Indians, they come to fish ; and this good 
roan takes this opportunity to spread the net of 
the gospel to fish for their souls. Here it may 
not be impertinent to give you the relation fol- 
lowing. 

"May 5th, 1674, according to our usual cus- 
tom, Mr. Eliot and myself took our journey to 
Wamesit, or Pawtuckett ; and arriving there that 
evening, Mr. Eliot preached to as many of them 
as could be got together out of Matt. xxii. 1-1 4, 
the parable of the marriage of the king's son. 
"We met at the wigwam of one called Wannalan- 
cet, about two miles from the town, near Paw- 
tuckett falls, and bordering upon Merrimack 
river. This person, Wannalancet, is the oldest 
son of old Pasaconoway, the chiefest sachem of 
Pawtuckett. He is a sober and grave person, 
and of years between fifty and sixty. He hath 
been always loving and friendly to the English. 
Many endeavors have been used several years 
to gain this sachem to embrace the Christian re- 
ligion ; but he hath stood off from time to time 
and not yielded up himself personally, though 
for four years past he hath been willing to hear 
the word of God preached, and to keep the Sab- 



GOOKIN'S NARRATIVE 7 

bath. — A great reason that hath kept him off, I 
conceive, hath been the indisposition and averse- 
ness of sundry of his chief men and relations to 
pray to God ; which he foresaw would desert 
him, in case he turned Christian. — But at this 
time, May 6th, 1674, it pleased God so to influ- 
ence and overcome his heart, that it being pro- 
posed to him to give his answer concerning pray- 
ing to God, after some deliberation and serious 
pause, he stood up and made a speech to this 
effect : — 

" ' Sirs, you have been pleased for four years 
past, in your abundant love, to apply yourselves 
particularly unto me and my people, to exhort, 
press, and persuade us to pray to God. I am 
very thankful to you for your pains. I must ac- 
knowledge,' said he, ' I have, all my days, used to 
pass in an old canoe [alluding to his frequent cus- 
tom to pass in a canoe upon the river] ; and now 
you exhort me to change and leave my old canoe 
and embark in a new canoe, to which I have hith- 
erto been unwilling : but now I yield up myself 
to your advice, and enter into a new canoe, and 
do engage to pray to God hereafter.' 

" This his professed subjection was well pleas- 



8 OUR TOWN. 

ing to all that were present, of which there were 
some English persons of quality ; as Mr. Richard 
Daniel, a gentleman that lived in Billerica, about 
six miles off; and Lieutenant Henchman, a neigh- 
bor at Chelmsford ; besides brother Eliot and my- 
self, with sundry others, English and Indians. 
Mr. Daniel before named desired brother Eliot to 
tell its sachem from him, that it may be, while 
he went in his old canoe, he passed in a quiet 
stream ; but the end thereof was death and de- 
struction to soul and body : But now he went 
into a new canoe, perhaps he would meet with 
storms and trials; but yet he should be encour- 
aged to persevere, for the end of his voyage 
would be everlasting rest. Moreover he and his 
people were exhorted by brother Eliot and my- 
self, to go on and sanctify the Sabbath, to hear 
the word, and use the means that God hath ap- 
pointed, and encourage their hearts in the Lord 
their God. Since that time, I hear this sachem 
doth persevere, and is a constant and diligent 
hearer of God's word, and sanctifieth the Sab- 
bath, though he doth travel to Wamesit meeting 
every Sabbath, which is above two miles ; and 
though sundry of his people have deserted him 



INDIAN WARS. 9 

since he subjected to the gospel, yet he continues 
and persists. 

" In this town they observe the same civil and 
religious orders as in other towns, and have a 
constable and other officers. 

" This people of Wamesit suffered more in the 
late war with the Mawhawks than any other 
praying town of Indians : for divers of their peo- 
ple were slain ; others, wounded ; and some, car- 
ried into captivity ; which Providence hath much 
hindered the prosperous estate of this place." 

With Billerica this region passed through 
all the terror and calamities of Indian war- 
fare. But the conversion of the Wamesits 
stood this section in good stead. They re- 
mained, though often unjustly suspected 
and even ill-treated, the friends of the 
whites. From other tribes, wandering and 
marauding, Billerica suffered. Cowley, in 
his " Memories of the Indians and Pioneers 
of the Region of Lowell," states that some 
of another tribe visited that part of Billerica 
now Tewksbury, and killed John Rogers 
and fourteen others. Colonel Joseph Lynde, 



10 OUR TOWN. 

of Charlestown, with 300 armed men, ranged 
the swamps around here, but found no trace 
of the foe. Lynde's Hill, which he fortified 
and for some time garrisoned, preserves his 
name. Fort Hill was first used for defence 
by the Wamesits. 

In various parts of this town the Indians 
and earlier races have left their traces. Mr. 
Follansbee, near the Tewksbury line in An- 
dover, has a large collection of rude weapons 
which he claims belonged to the rude people 
of the Stone Age. 

A hatchet used for stripping the bark 
from trees was found on the farm of the 
State Almshouse, and also some arrow 
heads. A few years ago, on the farm of 
Mr. Jesse L. Trull, was picked up a mor- 
tar left by some careless squaw after bruis- 
ing the family corn. 

It is said that after the war the Wamesit 
chief visited Rev. Mr. Fiske of Chelmsford. 
To his question whether they had suffered 
much, Mr. Fiske replied " No," and devoutly 
thanked God. " Me next," said Wanna- 



INDIAN WARS. \\ 

lancet. It was a truly devout correction of 
the omission of the agents God used to save 
this region from even more fearful suffer- 
ings than it endured. 



CHAPTER 11. 
THE BEGINNING. 

Tewksbury, like the great republic to 
which it belongs, had a religious origin. 
Not conquest, nor commerce, nor science, 
not the passion for discovery or adventure, 
founded the United States, or indeed dis- 
closed this great continent, but religion. 
Literally true of New England are the 
words of Mrs. Hemans : 

" What sought they thus afar 1 
Bright jewels of the mine ? 
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war ? 
They sought a faith's pure shrine. 

" Ay, call it holy ground. 

The soil where first they trod ; 
They have left unstained what there they found, — 
Freedom to worship God." 

The people in this part of ancient Bille- 
rica found it a heavy burden on the Sabbath 



ORIGIN. 13 

days to reach the ancient meeting-house. 
Oxen were numerous, horses rare, carriages 
in sections hke this almost unknown. Often 
a woman would carry a babe five or six 
miles to attend divine worship. Many rode 
horseback to church, the wife or children on 
the same animal with the husband, along 
what the ancient records call the "bridal 
path." The people here desired to have a 
meeting-house of their own, or to be set 
apart by themselves. On May 13, 1733, 
they asked Billerica to *' erect a meeting- 
house in the centre of the town, or so as to 
accommodate the northerly part of the town, 
upon the Town's cost, or set them off, so 
that they may maintain preaching among 
themselves." At first reluctant, Billerica 
finally voted to grant their petition, and set 
them off with two thirds of the land be- 
tween the Billerica meeting-house and the 
Andover line, by a parallel line extending 
from Concord River to Wilmington line, if 
the inhabitants on the southeasterly side of 
" Shawshin " River be willing to join with 



14 OUR TOWN. 

them. " This final condition," says Mr. 
Hazen in his " History of Billerica," "called 
out a petition from Samuel Hunt and oth- 
ers to the General Court praying for the 
grant of a town with these bounds, or a 
committee to examine and report." The 
latter was done, and as a result Tewhshury 
was incorporated December 23, 1734. 

The new town received some 9,000 of the 
25,000 acres then included in Billerica. 
The following families from Billerica were 
taken into Tewksbury. 



Brown, 


2 


Marshall, 1 


Farmer, 


2 


Needham, 1 


French, 


2 


Osgood, 1 


Frost, 


3 


Patten, 3 


Hall, 


2 


Peacock, 1 


Haseltine, 


2 


Richardson, 1 


Hunt, 


5 


Rogers, 1 


Kidder, 


1 


Shed, 1 


Kittredge, 


11 


Stickney, 1 


Levistone, 


2 


Trull, 1 


Manning, 


2 


Whiting, 1 



If any one person has the honor of being 



INCORPORATION. 15 

the father of Our Town, it is Samuel Hunt. 
As seen above, he was the first to move for 
the incorporation of the town of Wamesit, 
and he leads the petition for what became 
Tewksbury. 

There is no evidence that this town was 
named for Tewkesbury, England. No fam- 
ily among us traces its trans-atlantic home 
to that place. What follows gives the only 
reason found for its name. In an account 
of the origin of the names of New England 
towns, read by Mr. W. H. Whitmore, A. M., 
before the Massachusetts Historical Society, 
he says : 

*' TEWKSBURY, Dec. 23, 1734. Act.'' 

This is the name of a town in Gloucester- 
shire, England, famous for its abbey. It 
had been, however, one of the titles of 
George II., who was in 1706 made Baron 
Tewkesbury, Viscount Northallerton, Earl 
of Milford-Haven, Marquess and Duke of 
Cambridge. In 1714 he became Prince of 
Wales ; and on his accession in 1727 all 
his dignities merged in the crown. Still 



16 OUR TOWN. 

this use of the name is the most probable 
reason for its adoption here.^ 

The first town meeting was held January 
14, 1735. Lieutenant Danl. Kittredge was 
moderator. All its business seems to have 
been the election of oflficers. The following 
were chosen : 

" Selectmen, Lt. Daniel Kittkedge. 
Mk. James Hunt, Jr. 
" Joseph Kittredge. 
" John French. 
" Nathan Pattin. 
"Town Clerk, Nathan Pattin. Town 
Treas. Nathan Shed. Wm. Kittredge, Sur- 
veyor of Flax and Hemp." 

1 The Rev. W. A. Keese, whose summer home is in 
Lunenburg, informs me that the name of that town illus- 
trates a custom of those days. Lunenburg was founded 
in 1728, and was named in honor of George the Second, 
who was also Duke of Lunenburg. The king acknowl- 
edged the honor by presenting a bell to the town which 
lacked facilities for transporting the gift to its destina- 
tion. It was placed in King's Chapel, Boston, where it 
is said to remain unto this day. 



FIRST TOWN MEETINGS. 17 

At the next meeting, January 31st, the 
first vote was to choose a committee to settle 
the line between Billerica and Tewksbury. 
This business was long delayed, and only 
settled after much deliberation and differ- 
ence with the reluctant Billerica. "Apr. 
1735 : " Voted and chose Mr. Enggals artis 
to assist to find a centre of their town." 
The second vote levied a town rate of X30 
charges to be made by the last assessment 
in Billerica. The third vote was to choose 
a committee " to view Andover old meet- 
ing-house frame," and ordered said commit- 
tee to " report to ye town at ye adjourn- 
ment of said meeting." This committee, 
Mr. Peter Hunt, Mr. James Kittredge, 
Jr., and Mr. Wm. Brown, performed their 
work and reported the frame " sound ex- 
cept 2 or 3 sticks." Nothing more is heard 
of the Andover frame; but in the fourth 
town meeting — for town meetings were 
thicker than prayer-meetings then — came 
the vote, February 13, 1735, Daniel Kit- 



18 OUR TOWN. 

tredge moderator, " that they build a new 
meeting-house." March 10th, John French, 
Sam. Hunt, Jr., James Kittredge, Jr., Abra- 
ham Stickney, and Peter Hunt were elected 
a committee for that purpose. 



CHAPTER III. 
THE CHUECH. 

Maech 10th, " Voted that tliey would 
not act upon ye first article in the warrant 
at this time," which was " to agree of what 
bigness their meeting-house should be." 
" July 9th, voted that the bigness should 
be 48 ft. long, and 36 ft. wide, and 12 ft. 
high between ' joynts.' " 

Sept. 20th, 1735, " Voted that they would 
have preaching in ye town, and that they 
would meet at ye house of John French 
Jr. upon ye Sabbath Days and worship 
God." November 7th, Lieutenant Daniel 
Kittredge, Samuel Hunt, Jr., and John 
French were chosen a committee to provide 
a preacher, and it was voted that the " stated 
time to begin ye Public Worship in ye Sab- 
bath Days shall be ten a Clock in ye morn- 
ing, that ye time of intermission between 



20 OVR TOWN. 

exercises should be one hour and a half, and 
that they would sing that way that is now 
called ye new." Then " Joseph Bailey and 
Nathan Stickney were chosen to tune and 
read ye psalms." 

After much deliberation on the site, after 
troubles and disappointments many, changes 
of committees, etc., they appear to have 
finished their meeting-house about the close 
of 1737. Interesting are some of the votes 
preceding that time : June 10th, voted that 
they would raise their meeting-house by a 
" teacle ; " that they would not provide for 
the raising their meeting-house by a rate ; 
and that they would raise a town rate of 
X200 for the building of their meeting- 
house. 

After the completion of the meeting- 
house, the next important question was the 
seating of it. They had many deliberations 
and many methods proposed. Disputes for 
precedence seem to have been as high among 
them as among the wives of our Washing- 
ton officials to-day. First, in December, 



THE MEETING-HOUSE. 21 

1737, they decided " to seat their meeting- 
house, and to have respect both to money 
and age in seating the meeting-house, to 
age all above sixty years ; " "to seat the 
meeting-house by one head, real and per- 
sonal, going back to the first assessment that 
was made in Tev7ksbury ; " "to leave the 
pews room joyning to the pulpit, one on the 
right hand and one on the left — one for 
the minister and one for the town ; to dis- 
pose of the room that remains left for pews 
to the highest paj^ers, giving the highest 
payer the first choice, and if he refuse to 
make his choice, the next highest payer, 
and so on till the above said pew room be 
taken up; that such persons as shall make 
choice of the above said pews are obliged to 
ceil the meeting-house sides against their 
pews up as high as the bottom of the lower 
windows." Later the town obliged the 
pew-owners to glaze the windows opposite 
their respective pews, and keep such portion 
of the meeting-house in proper repair. 

The pews were not all built at once, but 



22 OUR TOWN. 

for several years permissions appear to cer- 
tain persons to build one or more pews. 
The galleries were not even finished till 
later. There appears hesitation to carry out 
the plans of rating, etc., for we find that, the 
committee having failed to do their dut^^, 
another was chosen, with definite instruc- 
tions "to see who the highest payer was 
from their first being a town ; " and in 1742 
the following vote falls like a crack of a 
whip upon the dilatory : " That the select- 
men build a pew for their minister forth- 
with." 

A plan of the pews might be constructed 
from the locations described in the records. 
Their prices are given, but it is not worth 
while to quote them. 

It is time to turn to the minister of whose 
pew we hear. January 17, 1736, eleven 
months before the completion of the meet- 
ing-house, "Voted that Mr. Sampson 
Spaulding of Chelmsford should be our 
Minister upon his accepting our Choice — 
also to chose a Committee to treat with 



THE FIRST CALL. 23 

Mr. Sampson Spaulding whom we have 
chosen to be our Minister, and to make 
return." February 7, 1736, voted to give 
Mr. Sampson Spaulding, whom they " made 
choice on for their minister," " yearly for 
his salary X120 sterling, according to the 
valuation of grain now received among us 
— Indian Corn at 6/ per bush, and wheat 
at 10/ per bush., and Rie at 8/ per bush. ; " 
also " to give Mr. Sampson Spaulding whom 
the Town has made choice on for their Min- 
ister even for his settlement among them 
<£300, and to pay the same at three pay- 
ments, namely <£100 a year, till the whole 
sum be paid." 

In those days the calling, the ordination, 
and the settlement of a minister were im- 
portant and solemn events. The bond be- 
tween the people and their spiritual leaders, 
like that of marriage, was not lightly tied 
or broken. The whole town had an in- 
terest in all that pertained to the church 
and its clergyman. How close was that 
intimacy is evident from the fact that the 



24 OUR TOWN. 

first business of the town meeting after 
organizing was usually to vote what the 
minister's salary should be for the coming 
year. It varied with the times and value of 
money. How intimately town and church 
were connected appears also from such a 
vote as this, " that a committee of three be 
chosen to recommend Pierce R. Red and 
others into the religious society in said 
town." This union of church and state, in 
which almost all believed in those days, but 
in which no one believes now, continued till 
about 1840, when the votes on the minister's 
salary, and all business of repairing tlie 
church and paying necessary expenses, drop 
silently from the records. 

September, 1736, a fast was voted for the 
20th day of November, " in order for calling 
a minister;" then, in due order, it was 
voted that the selectmen appoint the fast 
for calling the minister, and provide minis- 
ters for said fast. Entertainment and ex- 
penses were also voted. October, 1737, 
voted " that Mr. Sampson Spaulding of 



THE ORDINATION. 25 

Chelmsford, whom ye town had made choice 
on for their minister, should be ordained on 
the 16th day of Nov. next, salving if the 
Thanksgiving [another great occasion] put 
it not by, and if it did, then two weeks fol- 
lowing, on Wednesday ye 22nd of the same 
month, and to have three men for a com- 
mittee to provide ministers and messengers 
for said ordination." Lieutenant Daniel 
Kittredge, Mr. John French, and Mr. Sam- 
uel Hunt, Jr., were the three. Voted also 
*' that the house of Sergeant John French 
should be the place of entertainment for 
ministers and messengers at said ordina- 
tion, and that the provision made for min- 
isters and messengers at the ordination 
shall^be 'provided by^the discretion of the 
committee chosen for that purpose." All 
passed off as desired. From that time we 
have the guidance of Mr. Spaulding in the 
records of the church, transcribed through 
his long life by his own hand. In these 
records, after giving the solemn church cov- 
enant, — a document well worth reading, — 



26 OUR TOWN. 

Mr. Spaulding gives the record of his call 
and ordination. The reverend elders that 
assisted in his ordination were : Mr. Jno. 
Hancock, of Lexington, and his son Eben- 
ezer ; Mr. Sampson Stoddard, of Chelms- 
ford ; Mr. Samuel Ruggles, of Billerica ; 
Mr. Thomas Parker, of Dracut; and Mr. 
Nicolas Bowes, of Bedford. Mr. Parker 
opened tbe solemnity by prayer. Mr. Rug- 
gles preached the sermon, from 2 Cor. xii. 
14 : " For I seek not yours^ hut you^ Mr. 
Hancock gave the charge, and Mr. Stod- 
dard the hand of fellowship. Thus the 
first pastor in Tewksbury was launched on 
his long and successful career. For three- 
score years, in peace and war, in prosperity 
and adversity, he shared the experiences of 
the people of tbe entire town, when there 
was one flock and one shepherd. 

Toucbing is the record of the doings of 
the church, the baptisms administered, the 
marriages performed, and the deaths solem- 
nized, during those sixty years. It is inter- 
esting and pathetic to read his own life in the 



MR. BARTON AND MR. COGGIN. 27 

long record, and even by the handwriting. 
At first somewhat stiff in youth, it grows 
ductile with years, and then with age be- 
comes unsteady and stiff again, until at 
last in the letters appear the dim eye, and 
unsteady nerves, till finally the pen drops 
from the aged hand. Then, in different 
writing, probably his widow's, comes this 
entry under the list of deaths : " The Rev. 
Sampson Spaulding Died Dec. ye 15th 
1796," a month and two days short of sixty 
years from the time he was " the choice of 
the Town to be their Minister." 

The same formalities marked the installa- 
tion of Mr. Barton in 1792, and the ordina- 
tion of Mr. Coggin in 1806, with this addi- 
tion, which shows the growth of the town. 
At the two soleum councils held on these 
occasions we note the presence of ministers, 
messengers, and scholars ; that a committee 
was chosen to aid in preserving order and 
legally empowered ; and that the crowd was 
too great for the usual strength of the gal- 
leries, which were ordered to be propped, 



28 OUR TOWN. 

and a "scaffold" for the ministers was 
voted to be built, so that the services might 
be held out of doors if the weather per- 
mitted. 

Before passing from the church it may 
be well to notice that the town voted |50 
for several years from 1790 to Lieutenant 
Thomas Wood for meeting with and in- 
structing the singers. In 1798, " It was 
voted that the town will have the Bass Viol 
or some other instrument of musick to be 
introduced into the meeting-house for the 
help of the vocal part of the musick to per- 
form the divine part of worship in the Sab- 
bath and other days of public worship." 
1788, " Voted and accepted the singers plan 
for the use singing." 

In 1822 they voted to build a new meet- 
ing-house, which was finally done in the 
most satisfactory manner, the town passing 
a unanimous vote of thanks to their com- 
mittee, Josiah Brown, Jos. Brown, Jr., 
Jesse Trull, Wm. Rogers, and Dudley Mar- 
tin. Their report on the records is a model 



NE W MEE TING-E OUSE DEDICA TED. 2 9 

in cTiirography and contents. The building 
cost $4,590.31. The pews sold for $5,399, 
leaving a balance of $808.69. 

In 1825 the bell was exchanged for one 
weighing 1,850 lbs., which still calls us to- 
gether, and now through the new clock 
strikes the passing hours. The one ex- 
changed had been added the year previous 
from some surplus money. 

The sixth of July, 1824, was the day ap- 
pointed for dedicating the new meeting- 
house. Fifteen prominent men were chosen 
a committee of arrangements, which were 
carried out with due style and solemnity. 
They voted to sell the pews, except one on 
each side, and one to be selected by the sell- 
ing committee and Mr. Coggin " for the 
minister's pew, and to sell in the same order 
as in the former house, if they will pay," 
and also with pews to give rights to build 
horse-sheds. The thanks of the town for a 
clock were voted to Mr. Jesse Trull, — a 
gentleman quite prominent in town affairs 
in the first quarter of this century. From 



30 OUR TOWN. 

1811 to 1822 he represented the town in 
the legislature nine times. His name is the 
only one which appears on the records as 
representative during that period. 

It was not till 1737 that liberty was 
granted "for individuals to warm the meet- 
ing-house." It appears to have been an 
appreciated effort, for next year pay was 
voted for pews to make room for stoves for 
that purpose. We can hardly conceive of 
any use for the pews without the stoves. 

The time between the services was so brief 
that the people had no opportunity of going 
home. Groups would club together and 
build and warm small houses, called S ab- 
ba-day houses. There a pleasant season was 
spent in eating lunch, exchanging the news, 
and also discussing the sermon. A descend- 
ant of one of the earliest families in Tewks- 
bury, writing to a friend, thus speaks of 
them from memory : " In those times there 
was no fire in the church and intermission 
was short, not sufficient time to go home so 
far, as the old house was opposite that of Mr. 



• THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 31 

David Rogers. Therefore his great-grand- 
father built him what was called a Sabba- 
day house on his own land, where they could 
go and warm by a fire, and in the oven was 
their dinner. Others were often invited 
with the family. Some think lightly of those 
houses, but I have a great reverence and 
respect for them. The cellar-hole is on my 
land in Tewksbury, although fires have 
several times burnt around and in it. There 
has an oak-tree come up years ago, and 
lives through it all. Probably there the 
sermon and services were discussed, and I 
have no doubt that good arose from that 
place." 

Through the conversion of a number of 
families in the northern part of the town 
in the great revival in Lowell under the 
well-known Elder Jacob Knapp, the Baptist 
sentiment crystallized into a Church and 
Society in 1843. Their meeting-house was 
built the same year and stands in one of 
the finest situations in North Tewksbury. 
It has been lately much improved. 



CHAPTER IV. 
IN THE REVOLUTION. 

The civil history of Tewksbury, as well 
as her religious, gives her a place among the 
honored list of New England towns which 
helped to found and then to defend the re- 
public. Her men served in the French and 
Indian wars in the various places and times 
in the history of the Province and State 
where troops were required. 

A vote was tried May 16, 1737, to see 
if the town would send a representative to 
the General Court, and it passed in the neg- 
ative. Only once before the time of the 
Revolution, in 1751, and then no choice ap- 
pears, was it decided to send a representative. 
They voted to trust to the mercies of the 
Court. But as soon as danger to the Prov- 
inces appeared, no convention or political 
assembly lacked a delegate from Tewks- 



PREPARATIONS. 33 

bury. Many of these were attended when 
life might be forfeited for taking part in the 
proceedings. Time prevents us from follow- 
ing in detail the long list of conventions, 
etc., to draft forms of government, adopt 
constitutions, or regulate prices in time of 
war. The town meetings also, at times 
held every few days, were occupied often in 
this same essential business. Thus were 
the constitutions of our States and of the 
United States hammered out article by ar- 
ticle until they were fitted to endure the 
test of use and time. 

February 8, 1773, the first note of the 
coming strife sounds in the town records. 
Then Tewksbury voted to choose a commit- 
tee of correspondence with the town of Bos- 
ton, and Mr. Ezra Kindall, Aaron Beard, 
John Needham, Nathaniel Hey wood, and 
David Trull were chosen ; and then it was 
voted to adjourn to March to hear their draft, 
which was accepted. The warrant of Sep- 
tember, 1774, contains an article " to see if 
the town will appoint one or more delegates 



34 OUR TOWN. 

to attend a Provincial meeting at Concord ; " 
and another article *' to see if the town will 
provide some fire armes and more ammuni- 
tion and chose a committee to provide for 
the same." September 21, 1774, seven 
months before the battle of Lexington, they 
voted to buy more powder for a town stock, 
and to buy two more barrels of powder in 
addition to the town stock, and to " leave it 
with ye committee to provide bullets and 
flints as they shall think proper." Six days 
after they met according to adjournment, 
and chose Mr. Jonathan Brown as " Dele- 
gate for the Provincial meeting to be holden 
at Concord on ye second Tuesday of October 
next." In November was considered the ar- 
ticle in the warrant " whether the constables 
be directed by a vote of the town to pay 
the money that they shall have or shall col- 
lect of the Province tax to Henry Gardiner, 
Esq., of Stow, according to the directions of 
the Provincial Congress." March, 1775, 
they voted to indemnify the assessors for 
not making returns to Harrison Gray, Esq. 



CONCORD. 35 

They then voted to raise minute-men^ — it 
was high time after passing such votes, — 
and to give their minute-men five shillings 
apiece " for every half day in the week that 
they train till further notice." 

March 9, 1775, voted to choose a commit- 
tee to suppress disorders in town. A large 
committee of their best men was chosen. It 
was none too soon, for in a little over six 
weeks their minute-men must march to 
face the veterans of Great Britain at Con- 
cord, and it would never do to leave Tory 
sympathizers in the town to aid the enemy. 
That there were Tories then in Tewksbury 
is clear, for afterward, March, 1779, they 
chose Mr. Ezra Kindall as agent to care for 
the Tory farms in Tewksbury. This meet- 
ing, at which men and money were voted, 
was held March 9th. April 19, the embat- 
tled farmers at Concord and Lexington, as 
Emerson says, " fired the shot heard round 
the world." 

Tewksbury was roused that famous night, 
or rather morning, by one of the men started 



36 OUR TOWN. 

by Paul Revere on his famous ride through 
the Middlesex farms. The messenger passed 
through this village and roused its sleeping 
inhabitants. Then riding on, he stopped on 
that spring morning on Stickney Hill, at 
the house of Captain John Trull, near the 
training-ground often used by the captain 
for drilling the men, and enlisting them in 
their country's service. Hearing the cry, 
" The British are marching on Concord ! " 
Captain Trull sprang from bed, and after 
firing his gun as the signal previously agreed 
upon to arouse General Varnum across the 
Merrimac in Dracut, threw himself upon 
his horse and rode rapidly to the village. 
Here he found the minute-men drawn up, 
ready at the word to march. Placing him- 
self at their head, they were soon on their 
way by the Billerica road to Concord, and 
joined at Merriam's Corner with those from 
Billerica and other towns in hot pursuit of 
the retreating British. There, all accounts 
agree that the sharp conflict changed the 
retreat into a rout. 



IN TEE FIELD. 37 

One of the Tewksbury men was Eliphalet 
Manning. One of Captain Trull's grandsons, 
Mr. Herbert Trull, often related that when 
a boy, on his way to Salem, he used to pass 
Manning's door. Eliphalet would call out : 
" I fought with your grandfather from Con- 
cord to Charlestown. He would cry out to 
us as we sheltered ourselves behind the 
trees : ' Stand trim, men ; or the rascals 
will shoot your elbows off.' " 

Tewksbury was also represented at 
Charlestown, Boston, Cambridge, Roxbury, 
" the Lines," Rhode Island, New York, 
Ticonderoga, " the westward," and at the 
taking of Burgoyne. The history and course 
of the war may be read in the records and 
money-orders of the town, or in the votes 
for distinguished men and measures. While 
her sons stood in the high places of the 
field, the work to keep them there and sus- 
tain the government went bravely on here. 
It is a record of which the town may forever 
be proud. 

" May 23, 1775. Chose Mr. Ezra Kindell 



38 OUR TOWN. 

to be a representative to the Provincial Con- 
gress at Watertown, May 31." Such an 
election might cost him his life. A Com- 
mittee of Correspondence also was chosen. 
July 15, 1775, Mr. Ezra Kindell again 
chosen. In the March meeting of 1776, 
Nathaniel Clark, Jr., Nathaniel Heywood, 
Deacon Jacob Shed, and William Brown 
were chosen a Committee of Correspondence, 
Inspection, and Safety ; and May 20th Lieu- 
tenant John Flint, John French, Jr., and 
Benjamin Burtt were added to their num- 
ber. Then for the years of the war the rec- 
ords teem with money paid to the soldiers 
and their families, for provisions, clothing, 
transportation, bounties, and whatever was 
needed to wage war long, grim, and terrible. 
Thus this town, with the country, was 
launched on the terrible struggle which 
ended in complete triumph when George 
III., entering the houses of parliament with 
pale countenance, read with faltering voice 
the recognition by Great Britain of the inde- 
pendence of the United States of America. 



THE STRUGGLE. 39 

The long, weary years of that great strug- 
gle are traced upon our town records in 
votes to raise reinforcements of men for the 
Continental army; to furnish it with pro- 
visions and clothing ; to raise committees for 
all needful purposes, and also in the orders 
to pay the troops or their families ; indeed, 
in all the multifarious and oppressive busi- 
ness of war. Most pathetic are the orders to 
some widow or relative to receive the pay 
due to one who went forth to fight for all 
man holds dear, but who never returned to 
enjoy the fruits of victory. Such are these : 
"To Widow Rebecca French X3, 5, 10, 2. 
To Widow Rebecca Gray 7/9." In short, 
men and money were lavished like water. 
Meetings often occurred within four or five 
days of each other. As one reads the rec- 
ords, it is brought home to him what the 
founding of the republic cost : he sees the 
making of the United States ; he learns the 
whole process as he remembers that our 
town stands a representative of what was oc- 
curring in a multitude of other towns doing 



40 OUR TOWN. 

the same great work. It is this that makes 
the early history of every New England 
town, especially in the revolutionary period, 
so instructive and fascinating. Could the 
dumb and scanty records of our town 
speak, could they give us a verbal report 
of but one of their town meetings, of even 
one of their debates on arms or the consti- 
tution of state or nation, what an absorb- 
ing tale would be unfolded ! 

As time passed, indications of the events 
prominent in the continued history of the 
country also appear in the records. This 
shows the year of what is called Shays' 
Rebellion : October 8, 1789, " An order to 
David Rogers for his services being drafted 
to go into the Shais Affair.'* Action upon 
the various changes and additions to the 
Constitution appears in due course. Rip- 
ples of the second war with England reached 
even here. July, 1812, they voted $13 per 
month to each soldier, and to raise money 
to carry on the war. 



CHAPTER V. 

IN THE CIVIL WAR. 

The far-off sound of the coming Civil War 
is heard in the vote of March, 1861, to have 
the school committee cause the Constitu- 
tion of the United States to be read at least 
once a term in each of the public schools. 

May 6th, the same notable year, began the 
long list of liberal provisions by the town to 
furnish men and money to defend the repub- 
lic. The records seem to repeat themselves, 
as essentially the same votes, orders, and 
the very names, reappear that were found 
in the time of the Revolution. The boun- 
ties keep rising to secure the needful troops ; 
the quotas increase in number ; the patriotic 
efforts become more and more strenuous ; 
state and town aid are furnished the fami- 
lies of the absent soldiers. Again the prom- 
inent men in town step to the front to aid 



42 OUR TOWN. 

and inspire the citizens. Voluntary efforts 
supplement those of the legal meetings. In 
addition to the names familiar through all 
our history, the new name of Leonard Hunt- 
ress appears. With many others he helped 
to guide affairs in this trying period of the 
country's history. The records are fuller 
than in the early years, and contain many 
interesting documents. Beside the famous 
proclamations of Governor Andrew and of 
President Lincoln, there is the record of 
some remarks by Mr. Huntress, then first 
selectman. As chairman he appended these 
remarks to the report of the selectmen of 
March, 1865. They carry us back to those 
days of trial, and to the spirit which ani- 
mated the great North. 

" The selectmen in addition to the fore- 
going report of receipts and expenditures, 
desire to call the attention of their fellow- 
citizens, in a few brief words, to matters 
showing more especially the town's relation 
to the country. 

" The war has existed four years. Every 



THE HUNTRESS REPORT. 43 

call made upon us for men to put down the 
rebellion has been honored. Our quotas are 
all full. We have also a surplus to our 
credit of two men. 

" The end now appears to be so plainly 
drawing nigh that we are in hopes no ad- 
ditional calls will be made. In fact, the 
spirit of liberty and of patriotism seems to 
be doing for the army in these last days so 
good a work, that we believe our ranks will 
be kept full. 

" Since April 1, 1864, this town has fur- 
nished twenty-four men. The last one who 
went was our fellow-townsman, Anson B. 
Clark. 

" We mention his case particularly be- 
cause he was the first man who enlisted as 
a private, and by his soldierly qualities 
and good conduct was promoted to a ser- 
geancy. Soon after his promotion he was 
taken prisoner, and suffered in the ' Libby ' 
and on Belle Isle until nearly used up, 
when he was exchanged. He now considers 
himself again fit for duty, has been examined 



44 OUR TOWN. 

and mustered in as a veteran for Hancock's 
Corps. 

"Of those that went in the winter of 
1863-64, four are known to have died. 
Their names are J. Wells Merriam, Alexan- 
der McDonald, Hugh McDonald, and Hugh 
McQuarrie. Young Merriam was clerk of 
the Fifteenth Massachusetts Battery, sta- 
tioned then at Memphis, a good soldier, a 
correct officer, and an exemplary and up- 
right man. He died after a brief sickness, 
beloved, we believe, by the whole command. 

" The two McDonalds and McQuarrie 
were not citizens of this town. Their home 
was Prince Edward's Island. Temporarily 
at work here, they enlisted in the Seventh 
Battery, and during the last warm season 
they all died near the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi River. For all of these brave ones, 
and for those who have fallen before them, 
the town does most tenderly cherish the 
memory of their gallant and heroic deeds. 

" While this war lasts, the selectmen 
would recommend that our expenses be 



THE HUNTRESS REPORT. 45 

kept as light as practicable. If men are 
wanted, they must be furnished. If we 
have them not, we must find them else- 
where ; and if they cost money, we must 
pay for them. But as to our affairs at 
home, we recommend a rigid economy." 

Enough has been said to show that 
" Tewksbury in the Civil War 'Ms a suffi- 
ciently large and interesting subject for 
treatment by itself. Is it not time to pre- 
serve more fully this honorable part of our 
history, before those who remember it pass 
beyond ? Is it not time to honor, as many 
other towns have done, those who fell in 
our defence ? 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE SCHOOLS. 

The town has always shown a generous 
and vital interest in the public schools. 
" These," says Mr. Lowell, " before the rev- 
olutionary period, were the defence of the 
land." " What," he says, " made our Revo- 
lution a foregone conclusion was that act 
of the General Court passed in May, 1647, 
which established the system of schools : 
* To the end that learning may not be 
buried in the graves of our forefathers in 
Church and Commonwealth, the Lord as- 
sisting our endeavors, it is therefore ordered 
by this Court and authority thereof, that 
every township in this jurisdiction, after 
the Lord hath increased them to fifty house- 
holders, shall then forthwith appoint one 
within their towns to teach all such children 
as shall resort to him to write and read.' " 



EARLY EFFORTS FOR SCHOOLS. 47 

An example of piety and interest in educa- 
tion for all future legislatures ! 

As at first Tewksbury did not number 
fifty householders, for some years the pro- 
gress of education received a repeated shock 
by refusals to employ a schoolmaster. The 
wonder is that so constantly, out of their 
poverty, they did so much and so well. Here 
is seen the source of the liberal support of 
the public schools continued to this day. It 
is in harmony with all our traditions to do 
even more than the law strictly requires us, 
as in the present year. 

The history of the public schools in 
Tewksbury begins December 10, 1740, when 
it was voted in town meeting " that Stephen 
Osgood of Tewksbury should serve the 
town of Tewksbury for a schoolmaster for 
ye remainder of this year." December 6, 
1743, " Voted to have a writing and read- 
ing school in the town, and that said town 
be provided with a school as above men- 
tioned for the space of three months from 
he time he is made choice on." Mr. Fran- 



48 OUR TOWN. 

cis Kittredge and Captain Peter Hunt were 
chosen to provide a schoolmaster for the 
town as above mentioned. They were our 
first school committee. They were allowed 
fifteen shillings per week for keeping the 
schoolmaster. The next vote was in 1744, 
and was about the same. They rebelled 
against imported talent, for " a vote was 
tryed by the Moderator to see if ye town 
would have Mr. Bridges of Andover for 
their schoolmaster, and said vote passed in 
the negative." They strove to equalize 
privileges; for March, 1744, they voted a 
consideration of " ten pounds (old tenor) 
to ye westwardly part of ye town for their 
not having any benefit of ye town school- 
master." Then old-tenor money was about 
one quarter the value of the new. For some 
twenty years from 1744 money for the 
schoolmaster was voted only occasionally, 
but the usual three months school appears 
to have been kept regularly notwithstand- 
ing. In 1768 the names of five different 
schoolmasters on the accounts suggest diffi- 



EARLY EFFORTS FOR SCHOOLS. 49 

culties not entirely obsolete in discipline or 
capacity. 

In 1769 they voted to divide the town in 
"squadrons for the benefits of schooling." 
After much deliberation, this was done 
finally in 1771, when the committee's report 
was accepted to squadron out " ye town for 
the benefits of schooling, and it was voted 
to have a woman's school kept this present 
year." A brighter day begins. In 1772 
appears the name of the first female teacher 
in town in an order to Lucy Needham for 
sixteen shillings for keeping school one 
month. The other teachers that year in 
town were — 

" Maby Beown, paid £2.8. 

" Molly Meretll, paid <£2.12. 

" Elizabeth Bailey, paid <£2.8." 
All honor to these pioneers of a noble 
band! 

In 1772 it was " voted that each squad- 
ron draw their equal rata of the money 
voted for schooling." February, 1776, an 
order for sixteen shillings to Molly Brown 



60 OUR TOWN, 

" for keeping school four weeks in ye year." 
Thus four shillings a week was the rate for 
teaching, one hundred years ago. 

In March, 1793, they voted to build school- 
houses in the several squadrons, and chose 
two persons in each squadron to visit the 
schools, but it was not till next year that 
the money was voted for this purpose. 

In 1795 five men were chosen to inspect 
the schools. Sometimes they raised the 
number to ten, two from each squadron. 

Private schools were once known in town. 
It was voted, March, 1830, that Doctor 
Henry Kittredge and others have liberty to 
keep a private school in the town hall, they 
making good the damages and paying rent 
if requested. 

About the year 1830, the districts had 
about 180 each, except the Centre, which 
had about $100. Afterwards the appro- 
priations rose gradually. 

In 1838 it was voted to print the school 
reports for the first time, one hundred 
copies being ordered. 



VARIOUS REGULATIONlS. 51 

In 1852 and 1853, text-books were fur- 
nished the different schools in town, so that 
free text-books were known quite early. 

Intemperance was found, with them as 
with us, a difficult subject to deal with. 
As early as 1746 it was voted not to give 
back to a certain person the £6 which he 
had forfeited for selling strong drink with- 
out a license; and in 1749 the same per- 
son paid £5.10 for selling strong drink. 
The same year fines amounting to £11 
were received for breaking the Sabbath. 
The town paid regularly for entertaining 
the selectmen. One order was for drink 
which the receiver let the selectmen have. 
When the meeting-house was built, one bill 
was for beer furnished the workmen. 

Slowly arises a better spirit, for May 19, 
1819, they voted that "the selectmen see 
that all Tipsters and Drunkards be posted 
in the licensed houses ; " five years later, 
" that there be guardians put over such as 
are spending their time and property for 
ardent spirits, and that there be a tipster 



62 OUR TOWN. 

list posted up." They were by no means 
prohibitionists, for in 1835 an article in 
the warrant was dismissed, " To see if the 
town will vote not to have any distilled 
spirits sold in town and set on the same." 

In 1854 the selectmen were requested 
and instructed to prosecute all known viola- 
tions of the liquor law in town. From 1855 
till about 1865 the town had a regularly 
appointed liquor agent. 



CHAPTER VII. 
THE POOR. 

Tewksbury from the first has found 
true the words, " The poor ye have with you 
always, and whensoever ye will ye may do 
them good." The town supervised the in- 
terests of widows and orphans when re- 
quired, and often adjudicated cases of diffi- 
culty which now are carried into the courts, 
— perhaps not a more excellent way. 
Sometimes the children of the poor were 
bound out by the selectmen. 

It was the custom to warn out of town 
persons likely to become paupers before 
they could establish a claim for support. 
A fee was paid for this, which sometimes 
such persons would obtain for warning out 
themselves and families. Thus, " to Daniel 
Pry or 18/, it being for warning himself 



54 OUR TOWN. ' 

and family and Mrs. Mahoney and her child 
out of town." Then no one could become 
a regular and recognized inhabitant without 
permission. Towns gave worthless and dis- 
orderly persons orders to march, and often 
assisted them to do so. When, however, 
a person or family had a right to town aid, 
they were fortunate poor people, because 
they would be well cared for. 

There were in the early times a Nicholas 
Striker and family, whose names appear 
frequently in the town accounts. Orders 
were paid for beef, milk, wood, sugar, pork, 
provisions of all kinds ; for rum and mo- 
lasses ; for doctoring Striker's wife ; for 
repairing his house ; for a cow to lend 
Striker ; and at last for his coffin and fu- 
neral expenses. There was a French fam- 
ily, probably one of the Acadian exiles, 
equally prominent in the same way, of 
which it seemed the town would never hear 
the last. With a sigh of relief, even at 
this distant day, is read an order for pay- 
ment for carrying them to Canada. Alas ! 



THE POOR. 55 

they are soon back from an uncongenial 
and inhospitable clime to tarry till the in- 
evitable end. 

In 1786 was considered how the town 
should support their poor, and it was voted 
*' that the poor be set up to the highest 
bidder, and that the selectmen give public 
notice of the time and place where they are 
to be set up." Again, " that the selectmen 
are to vendee the poor that are supported 
by the town to the lowest bidder." Hence 
for years was added to the warrant an 
N. B. " The Poor that are supported by 
the Town are to be put out to them that 
will do it cheapest, in the evening of the 
above said day, and also the Widow Stick- 
ney's thirds for the season." 

In 1787 overseers of the poor were 
chosen. It was not till 1826 that the pres- 
ent poor-farm was purchased, with whose 
working all are familiar. In May, 1826, it 
was voted to use it also as a house of correc- 
tion. 

The State almshouse was located in 



56 OUR TOWN. 

Tewksbury, May 1, 1854, upon a farm of 
two hundred and fifty acres. Mr. Isaac H. 
Meserve was the first superintendent. The 
Honorable Thomas J. Marsh succeeded 
him in 1858, and he held the office for over 
twenty-five years. Mr. Marsh, in 1883, 
was followed by Dr. C. Irving Fisher, the 
present superintendent. The number of 
inmates varies from about eight hundred in 
summer to twelve hundred in winter. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

NATURAL HISTORY. 

The early descriptions of New England 
reveal an unusual beauty. The number 
and varieties of the trees of the forests 
primeval impressed the writers. The same 
impression of admiration arose from the 
multitude and variety of the animals, birds, 
and fish which Tewksbury had in common 
with other towns. Some of the quadrupeds 
are now extinct. 

The abundance of fish made Wamesit 
the capital at one time of the tribe after 
which it was named. The Merrimac is 
" the Sturgeon river." In this river, the 
Concord, and the Shawsheen, and in their 
numerous tributaries, abounded all the kinds 
of fish known to New England waters. In 
former days the northwestern part of the 



58 OUR TOWN. 

town was known as *' Shad-town," and ap- 
prentices stipulated that they should be fed 
only so often upon the royal salmon or upon 
shad. The southern portion was for years 
called " Pigeon-town," from the numerous 
pigeons which frequented those parts. At 
every town-meeting from 1743 till 1830, 
fish reeves, wardens, or " fish cares " were 
appointed. The following is the first 
vote ; Stephen Osgood and Samuel Hunt 
were chosen a committee " to see that the 
fish have free passage up and down those 
streams where they usually pass to spawn." 
Soon after the founding of Lowell, the man- 
ufacturing interests, by polluting the wa- 
ters, left them without occupation, and they 
ceased to be elected. 

As late as August, 1760, about which 
time the savage beasts disappeared, was 
killed in Wilmington the last wild bear in 
that vicinity. " It was shot by Ephraim 
Buck, from beneath the branches of an an- 
cient oak now standing, near the road lead, 
ing from Wilmington Centre to the east 



SMALL GAME. 59 

part of the town." (Drake's Middlesex, 
Wil. by L. C. Eames.) 

Interesting is this vote passed December, 
1739 : " Voted to chose two men to take 
care that the deer in this town be not de- 
stroyed contrary to the last law made in 
their behalf." Josiah Baldwin and Samuel 
Trull had the honor of being elected the 
first of a long list of deer reeves which ends 
about 1777. 

The following vote shows the abundance 
of small game compared with its scarceness 
to-day: 1742, ''voted a town rate of <£25 
old tenor to pay the bounty laid on grey 
and ground squirrels and blackbirds which 
are caught in the town." Bounties for fiercer 
animals were not unknown, for in 1757 an 
order of six shillings was paid John Ball 
for killing one wildcat ; and in 1758 Jon- 
athan Kittredge was paid ten shillings for 
one killed, — the last of which there is his- 
torical record. There was a bounty on 
crows also, whose rate rose and fell with 
the times. In 1791, "Voted a bounty for 



60 OUR TOWN. 

killing crows, 9c?. per head for old ones, 
and four pence ha'penny for young ones 
killed by the inhabitants of this town in 
the town : Voted also that the heads be 
brought to the selectmen or town treasurer 
to be examined, and if they suspect their 
being killed in the town, then the person 
bringing them shall go to a justice of the 
peace and sware that the crows were killed 
in the town and bring a certificate that he 
thus swore." 

In 1814 it was voted to let fishing priv- 
ileges to the highest bidder : $50 was paid 
for the privilege formerly owned by Dr. 
Worcester at the northwest part. 



CHAPTER IX. 

SLAVERY. 

Many fail to remember, perhaps never 
dreamed, that slavery once existed in Mas- 
sachusetts, the leading State in the great 
antislavery movement. Traces of the " pe- 
culiar institution " may be found in all the 
early New England towns. Tewksbury is 
no exception. The town records contain 
frequent references to negroes belonging to 
one and another of the names familiar in 
our history. It seems strange to hear of 
the Kittredge, the Trull, the Hunt, and the 
Rogers families as among the slavholders. 
Stranger still is what Mr. Aaron Frost re- 
lates, that when slavery was abolished in 
Massachusetts there were three slaves in 
this town : a man owned by Dr. Kittredge, 
from whom the poor-farm was bought ; a 



62 OUR TOWN. 

girl named Rose, owned by Mrs. Rogers, 
and one named Phyllis, the property of the 
Rev. Sampson Spaulding. It speaks well 
for their treatment that when freedom came 
the two maid-servants preferred to remain 
with their former owners. 

In those days they not only voted what 
seats the singers should have, and adjusted 
all difficulties With them, but passed the fol- 
lowing, September, 1786 : " that the ne- 
groes have the seat next to the long pew 
for their seat to set in." 

In this connection the following docu- 
ment is interesting : — 

" Know all men by these presents that 
I, John Kittreclge of Tewksbury, in the 
County of Middlesex, in his Majestie's 
Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New 
England, Chirurgeon, Know ye that I, 
said John Kittredge, for ye love, good will 
and affection that I have and do bear to- 
ward my servant Negroe man Reuben, and 
also for ye Good Service that the said 
Reuben hath done and performed for me, 



DR. KITTREDGE'S SLAVE. 63 

Do by these presents Declear, Order and 
Establish that my said Servant Reuben, if 
he lives and survives me, his said Master 
John Kittredge, that after my Decease the 
said Reuben shall be Intirely free and at 
his own free Liberty for his life time after 
my Decease, so that my Heirs, Executors, 
or Administrators, or Either of them, shall 
not have any Command or Business to 
order or Dispose of said Reuben. Dated at 
Tewksbury the Sixteenth day of Janury, 
in the Twenty Eight year of his Majestie's 
Reign Anquo Domini 175/5 

" Signed, Sealed and delivered 
in presence of us John Kittredge 

*' Jonathan Kittredge 

*' Joseph Kittredge 

" John Chapjvian 
" The above written Instrument of ye 
Cleronance of Doctr. John Kittredge's Ne- 
groe Man Reuben was entered November 
ye 16, 1756 

" Per me Stephen Osgood, 

" Town Clerk " 



CHAPTER X. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Feom the earliest times the highways 
absorbed much of the attention of the town. 
The records contain the description of 
each as they were laid out, the amounts 
voted to repair them, and the money al- 
lowed for a man, for a yoke of oxen, and for 
a cart in their service. One might learn 
the change in the times from the different 
prices paid. Here the subject can be only 
mentioned. The following vote shows 
the prices allowed September 29, 1735 : 
" That a man should have 2/ per day, for 
his oxen a yoak Sd per day and 4:d for cart, 
and this is to be the stated price for all sea- 
sons excepting that after ye 10th Mar. a 
man 3/6 for himself." 

As matters of interest and relics of old 



MISCELLANE OUS. 65 

customs, some votes and orders are taken 
from the records, chiefly in chronological 
order. 

For a long time, sixteen shillings a year 
was paid for sweeping the meeting-house. 

Till comparatively recent years, they ad- 
journed the town meetings one hour by 
holding up hands. Places of refreshment 
then were more numerous. 

1752. To fourteen petitioners voted 
"liberty to build two pews in meeting- 
house, one in ye west gallery and against 
three of ye windows for men to sit in — 
the other in ye east gallery against three of 
ye windows for women to sit in, and said 
petitioners are obliged to maintain ye glass 
windows against said pews, and to fill ye 
said pews as full as comfortable to sit in." 
The older people in town recall when many 
rode to church on horseback, and the male 
portion of the congregation sat in one part 
of the meeting-house, the female opposite. 

In 1759, " To choose a committee to 
proceed with those persons whom they shall 



66 OUR TOWN. 

suppose were aiding or abetting or assisting 

in destroying the Town Book of Records." 

May 23, 1775, " Voted and chose Mr. 
Ezra Kindell to be a member of the Provin- 
cial Congress at Watertown in the 31st day 
of May next." 

July 15, 1775, "Voted and chose Mr. 
Ezra Kindell to be representative.*' 

July 24, 1776, "That the selectmen 
shall provide ammunition and shovels, 
spades, pickaxes, &c., according to their dis- 
cretion, and that the selectmen shall pro- 
vide fire-armes for those persons that they 
shall think proper and other accoutre- 
ments." 

That same year, voted " that the assessors 
give the constables orders to strain upon the 
inhabitants and others that Dont pay in the 
corn in 20 days from the time ye constables 
receive ye lists." 

In 1761 much money was sjDent in nurs- 
ing the sick, especially in smallpox. The 
town was at times afflicted with severe epi- 
demics of this and other diseases, such as 



MIS CELL AN E OUS. 67 

" throat distemper," "dysentery," etc., and 
made spasmodic efforts to have an efficient 
board of health, etc. The board afterwards 
was merged in the selectmen, where it re- 
mains. 

For years there were elected surveyors of 
staves, shingles, clapboards, and hoops, as 
well as timber. 

February, 1773, warrant " to choose some 
person or persons for to set the Psalm on 
Sabbath Days and other times of Public 
Worship," and at the meeting David Mer- 
rill, Abrm. Bailey, and Peter Hardy were 
chosen " for to set the Psalm." 

Voted also the meeting-house windows 
" to be repaired with Diamond glace." 

Frequent payments are recorded " for 
numbering the people." 

An order, 1780, " to Wm. Symonds for 
£12 for $3,000 which he let the town have 
and 6/ interest," shows the great difference 
in the value of Continental and hard money. 

May 7, 1781, was granted an order to 
" Neh. Hardy for his service and being the 



68 OUR TOWN. 

remainder of what the town voted him for 
thirty days at the westward taking Bur- 
goyne. X4, 10, 4." 

In 1781, £30,000 Continental currency 
was voted for town expenses but found too 
little, and the town was called to reduce it 
to hard money. Then $75 Continental cur- 
rency == one silver dollar. Corn worth 
four shillings per bushel. 

The town ammunition for years was kept 
in the meeting-house, which, till the town 
hall was built, was the place for the town 
meetings. 

At the close of the first volume of records 
are given several pages of " Marks for 
Creeters." 

In 1791 voted to repaint the meeting- 
house, and to inquire of the painter what 
"collor is the most durable to paint the 
meeting-house." This proved to be stone 
color. 

March, 1793, "the vote was tryed to 
see if the town would give liberty for the 
Nokerlation of the small pox and it was 
passed in the negative." 



MISCELLANEOUS. 69 

1798 would have been a poor year for 
the Town Library, for they "voted that 
those persons that are taxed for dogs draw 
an order on the Town Treasurer for ^1." 

October 23, 1777, " Voted that the salt 
be delte to the poor sort of people, not to 
the whole town at 15/ per bushel, they pay- 
ing the money down for it." 

June 24, 1776, " Voted that the select- 
men shall provide bayonetts for the training 
band in town." 

One of the most interesting votes was 
passed April, 1792, when the weight of years 
had somewhat incapacitated the aged pastor. 
It reads: '^ Voted .£30 during his Natural 
Life to Rev. Mr. Sampson Spaulding yearly 
in case he shall resign so much of his charge 
as will not be a hindrance to the town call- 
ing another gentleman in the ministry if the 
town shall think proper." A committee was 
chosen and waited upon him and reported 
that the Rev. Mr. Spaulding acknowledged 
himself satisfied and contented with the 
vote of the town. In his active years, 



70 OUR TOWN. 

according to custom, whatever salary was 
voted, he rose in town meeting and ex- 
pressed himself satisfied with his stipend. 

This manifests the same judiciousness and 
Christian resignation which may be traced 
in the beginning as well as the end of his 
ministry. December 10, 1740, the Rev. 
Sampson Spaulding signified that he should 
not be inclined to take less than <£200 for 
his salary. Voted not to pay it. March, 
1741, *' Voted to give Rev. Sampson 
Spaulding, their minister, £150 if said 
minister being at ye meeting signified to 
ye people that what they would freely give 
him he would be satisfied with." 1742 
they voted X160, and he appeared and de- 
clared himself satisfied with what the town 
had granted him. 

In this connection this entry is interest- 
ing: "Died March 20th, 1807, Madam 
Mehitibal Spaulding, 91 years, of old age." 

The two following forms are of interest. 
The first shows the customary way of ob- 
jecting to the reception of a member ; the 



MISCELLANEOUS. 71 

second, the usual vote of receiving or re- 
storing one to communion. 

" By this I do declare to the church in 

Tewksbury that I do place a bar to 

against his admission to the said Church." 

" The Church met and after seeking the 
Divine presence and Blessing they voted 
that they were in Charity with Thos. Kid- 
der Esq. as also his admission to our Com- 
munion." 

In 1829 agitation for the annexation of 
Belvidere to Lowell begins. Very reluc- 
tantly the town had to part with that beau- 
tiful village in 1834. Before that, the town 
meetings sometimes were held in the school- 
house of that district, but were usually im- 
mediately adjourned to Thompson's Tavern. 
The town supported a fire-engine and com- 
pany there for some time. In 1873, Tewks- 
bury lost over six hundred acres more of 
her territory to Lowell. 



CHAPTER XL 
CONCLUSION. 

After all that one can gather from the 
records of town and church, from tradition 
or other sources, it is impossible to bring 
before us the living men, the scenes, and the 
life of those olden times. What has re- 
sulted from their lives and labors is trans- 
figured by the great republic, the result of 
those early histories. The future will ac- 
complish this still more as the United States 
grows in power and influence. Imagina- 
tion will clothe those distant days with a 
light almost supernatural. Even now these 
words of Mr. Froude on the Old English 
are true of the old New England life as 
seen in towns such as Tewksbury : — 

" And now it is all gone, — like an un- 
substantial pageant faded; and between us 



CONCLUSION. 73 

and the Old English there lies a gulf of 
mystery which the prose of the historian 
will never adequately bridge. They cannot 
come to us, and our imagination can but 
feebly penetrate to them. Only among the 
aisles of the cathedral, only as we gaze 
upon their silent figures sleeping on their 
tombs, some faint conceptions float before 
us of what these men were when they were 
alive ; and perhaps in the sound of church- 
bells, that peculiar creation of medijeval 
age, which falls upon the ear like the echo 
of a vanished world." ^ 

1 Froude's Hiatory of Emjland, vol. i. p. 66. 



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